Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

[AMG/Ranma][XOver][Fanfic] Instruments of Change, Part Four

71 views
Skip to first unread message

Mike Koos

unread,
Aug 11, 1998, 3:00:00 AM8/11/98
to

---------
Peorth's first instinct, naturally, was to deny everything.
She loosely acknowledged Belldandy's attempts to ask her
precisely why two Mortal sisters were calling her 'Mom' all of a
sudden, choosing instead to take a closer look at the room and
everyone within it.
With an abrupt flash of recognition - as well as a startled yelp
- the house began to look very familiar, as did Nabiki and a girl
whose name she now remembered.
Akane.
Tendo Akane.
Peorth made a frantic dive for the lens of Nabiki's camera,
which still lay where Nabiki had left it on the family-room table.
Unfortunately for her, that was the moment at which another familiar
face chose to make his appearance.
Of all the members of the Tendo household, Soun had ironically
changed the least, she thought as the man caught her tightly in his
arms to keep her from escaping. Soun gazed through tear-flooded eyes
at her, mouthing the words, "Why, Hiroko? Why did you leave us?
Why?" Peorth could only struggle for air and utter a few
indecipherable noises.
Soun and Genma had stepped into the foyer of the house in time
to hear a voice Soun would never forget, filtering out from the
family room. At first, he'd attributed the woman's voice... his
hopeful belief that his late wife had somehow returned to him, to the
fact that he and Genma had just come from an evening of drinking at a
local bar... a night which would have been longer had Happosai not
made an appearance. More than one person could share similar voices,
right? Some people even turned their talents in the field of
impersonation into a line of work. But why would anyone want to
mimic his Hiroko's voice? Didn't they know how much the absence of
his wife pained him?
All of his doubts left him when he heard Akane and Nabiki speak
a single word: "*Mom*!?" Somehow, his beloved Hiroko had come back
to him... and he would never let her disappear from their family's
lives again.
"Why... did you leave us, Hiroko?" he repeated in a cracking
voice.
Urd, seated the closest to Nabiki, grabbed the camera and set it
in her lap so that Peorth wouldn't be able to use that route of
escape for the moment.
"......Why......?"
"Please, Mr. Tendo." Soun turned his head to see that Ranmira
had come to stand behind him. <Ranma-kun...?>
"Release her and we'll find out." Ranmira switched her gaze to
Peorth. "You won't run away, will you?"
Peorth hung her head in resignation. Hiding the truth from
Mortals wasn't difficult... but from other Goddesses? That was a
different story. Kami-sama? Forget it. It wouldn't be too long
before word of the shortcuts she had taken reached Kami-sama. "No...
I won't."

An Aa! Megamisama / Ranma 1/2 Crossover
Instruments of Change
Part Four
written by Mike Koos
------------------------

"In other words, my son has been carrying a Goddess within his
body for his entire life," Genma concluded in a less-than-pleased
tone of voice.
For Soun and Genma's sake, the Goddesses and Keiichi had been
reintroduced and Ranmira's story re-told. After a simple display of
power from Skuld and Ranmira, Akane and Nabiki had finally convinced
the two fathers that their guests - excluding Keiichi - were
honest-to-goodness Goddesses.
What seemed to be displeasure had risen in the elder Saotome
after taking a seat at the family-room table and listening to
everyone's stories, and those who knew the man were aware he was
liable to make his feelings known at any time.
He fixed Ranmira with a stern glare. "Your presence within my
son is not tolerated. You will leave him at once."
Urd and Skuld were quick to rise to their sister's defense.
"You have no right to--"
"Hey, you--"
Calmly, Ranmira held up a hand to restrain them. "He does have
a right to worry. Mr. Saotome?" she asked. "May I speak to you
privately in the dojo, please?"
"Are you afraid of speaking to me in front of witnesses?" Genma
challenged, assuming the stern glare and folded arms he normally used
to intimidate others. What better time than now to see if the
routine would work on a Goddess?
Ranmira stood and walked around the table to where Genma sat.
"Not at all. I merely wanted to talk to you about..." She leaned
closer to him and whispered the remainder of her words.
<Now what?> wondered Nabiki. What kind of secret was Ranmira
helping the old man keep?
Everyone wondered if they had just seen Genma turn pale - after
all, the man spent most of his time outdoors as a panda, making the
task of getting a tan difficult at best.
Genma immediately shot to his feet. "On second thought, I will
allow you to speak to me privately in the dojo."
"Thank you," Ranmira said in response. They left the room
together.
Akane frowned. Why was Ranmira being so civil toward Genma
after admitting the man had been the root cause of several of Ranma's
problems? <Well, she *is* a Goddess. Maybe she's supposed to be
nice to everyone.> "What was THAT about?"
"Who knows?" Urd shrugged... though Nabiki had a suspicion all
of the Goddesses knew *exactly* what Ranmira had chosen to discuss in
private with Genma. "Is that guy always like that?"
"Urd!"
Urd offered Belldandy a smirk. "What? Can I help it if the guy
doesn't really make himself likable?"

Genma stood six feet apart from Ranmira on the floor of the
dojo, his muscles tensing as though he expected her to attack him.
Though... if she *truly* wanted to fight him, he figured his
martial-arts knowledge wouldn't mean much against the powers of a
true Goddess. Better, then, to keep the girl talking. "Now, then.
What does this have to do with Nodoka?"
Saotome Nodoka, his wife. At this point in time, he wouldn't
have minded forgetting she even existed for a while.
Ranmira met his gaze. "As you are aware, my presence within
Ranma, and the fact that you have a son, are due to the wish Nodoka
made. I cannot leave Ranma until that contract is fulfilled."
"You don't get it, do you? I ordered you to leave my son, so
you must leave. Now. I will not have any girl turning my son into
an embarrassing weakling."
The Goddess' eyes narrowed, her expression darkening somewhat.
"You have no authority to break the contract, Saotome Genma. Only
the individual who made the wish has the ability to decide that. Why
don't you discuss this with her?"
There was no response, so Ranmira continued. "I know it isn't
the thought of your son becoming well-mannered that scares you. You
have told Ranma many times how his improper behavior shames you."
Okay, so perhaps she was taking Genma's words a bit out of context.
The longer she could keep Genma from arguing, the better. "But you
should be aware that you have caused a fair amount of damage to your
son's life. Fortunately, it can be reversed if you so choose."
"You... you won't do anything? You won't tell Nodoka--"
"I am here to see that the wish is fulfilled. If I see that you
are taking steps to repair the damage done to Ranma, I will not
interfere, as it is not my place."
Genma released the breath he had been holding. The wish this
Goddess had granted his wife was becoming the easiest of all the
contracts he had to contend with.
Ranmira saw this. "If you do nothing, however, I *will* take
action - and I will start by bringing Ranma's mother back into his
life."
"You can't do that!" blurted Genma as he again turned pale.
"We made a pact... she will demand that we give our lives to--"
"Are you sure of that, Mr. Saotome? Do you truly believe a
mother will be so quick to kill her only child?"
Silence.
"Or you? She married you, and despite any faults you might have
had, brought your son into the world. Nodoka loved you then, Mr.
Saotome. Don't be so quick to assume that she will want you and
Ranma to forfeit your lives now." <Please, let me be right,> Ranmira
hoped. Human nature could be one of the most difficult factors in
the Universe to second-guess, even for a Goddess...
Genma's voice had become quiet. "You haven't told Ranma or
anyone else about Nodoka, have you?"
"Only that she is the one who made the wish. I'm leaving the
task of resolving your 'problem' with Nodoka to you."
Her speech concluded, Ranmira walked toward the door that led
back into the house.
"Wait!" Genma's sudden cry caused her to hesitate.
"Yes?"
"If you are a Goddess, can you remove the Jhusenkyou curses
Ranma and I carry?"
Ranmira's expression fell. She paused. "I... can't. A curse
is a punishment one brings upon him or herself by his or her actions.
The only person who can neutralize a curse is the person suffering
from that curse."
It was the elder Saotome's turn to appear crestfallen. "I see."
<Why,> he mused, <doesn't anything good ever happen to me?>

Urd brought her head up as Ranmira and Genma returned to the
family room. "So?" she put the question to her sister. Everyone
was already watching them, wondering if Genma had somehow managed to
talk a Goddess out of doing her job. That, Urd doubted.
Ranmira settled back into her seat. "We have an agreement," she
said, calmly... with a quick glance at Genma, who looked nervously
back at her.
"Ah." She didn't want anyone to know it, but Urd was proud of
Ranmira. The 'old' Ranmira would likely have had difficulty dealing
with someone who was as overwhelmingly sure of himself as Genma.
"Well, now that that's out of the way..." There was a bemused quality
to Urd's eyes as she turned her attention to Peorth. "Would you mind
telling us why these people believe you're their mother?"
Peorth sighed. What chance did she have of keeping this secret
from Belldandy or her sisters? "...Because I am their mother."
After a short pause, she added, "Sort of."
"Sort of?" Nabiki said, voice suddenly hard. <Are all the
Goddesses SUPPOSED to be vague?> "How can you 'sort of' be our Mom?"
"I... never meant to hurt any of you," stammered Peorth.
Nabiki bit her lip in a half-hearted attempt to keep her temper
from rising to Akane's usual levels. "Oh, sure!" She directed
Peorth's attention to the head of the table, where Soun sat -
following the exchange. "I'm sure you know how emotional Dad can be!
Do you know how Mom's death affected him?"
"I do. I'm so sorry..."
"Not good enough."
"Nabiki." It was her father's voice. She saw how desperately
he was trying not to cry. "I want to hear what she has to say." No
one, least of all Soun, was entirely sure how well Nabiki had taken
her mother's passing. Kasumi had shut herself in her room and cried.
Akane had done the same, alternated between outbursts of anger.
Nabiki, on the other hand, had taken the pain she felt and locked it
in an obscure corner of her mind... choosing to put on a show of
strength for her family. She felt that her mother wanted them to
continue on, not spend the rest of their lives wishing she hadn't
died.
Eventually, each of the Tendo sisters had taken up a path they
believed would help their family to survive. After a while her cool,
calculating mercenary act became habit... and few saw Nabiki's other
side from then on.
The oldest of all the Goddesses present began to tell them her
story.
"I was assigned by my Goddess Relief Office to offer a wish to a
Mortal woman named Tendo Hiroko."
Nabiki sat straight in her chair. "So you're *not* our mother."
Belldandy politely cleared her throat. "Let her finish,
Nabiki-san."
"Unfortunately, before I found Hiroko... she was involved in a
car accident." If there was any sadness in Peorth, Nabiki was
basically ignoring it.
"I remember." No one had quite expected Soun to use such a
strong tone, given his emotional state of mind. "We had just learned
that Hiroko was going to be a mother for the third time..." At this,
Akane uttered a quiet gasp. "...and then, there was that dreadful
accident."
He studied Peorth's face. Except for the fact that the Goddess
appeared younger than Hiroko and had a curious trio of symbols or
markings adorning her face, she still reminded him very much of the
woman he had loved. "But... she made a miraculous recovery, and
Akane was eventually born without any problems."
Akane wondered if the sadness she was seeing in Peorth was true.
But if Peorth did lie, wouldn't Ranmira and her sisters immediately
know it? Better yet, would *she* be able to tell?
"When I arrived... Hiroko was... dying." Peorth stopped to take
a hesitant breath and a quick look at the faces of those gathered at
the table with her. "I told her who I was, and offered her the wish."
"What did she wish for?" Akane asked, curious.
The Goddess shook her head. "She could have wished not to die
at that point in Time, or that her wounds weren't actually critical.
But instead... she pleaded with me not to let her child perish with
her. That you, Akane, would live and grow up to be a strong young
woman."
"Sounds like Akane, all right," Nabiki quipped as everyone
watched her younger sister blush. "But that was when Mom was only
one month pregnant with Akane or so, as I was told. And Mom *did*
survive the accident."
"I'm afraid she didn't. See, yes, Hiroko was a little less than
one month pregnant at the time. For Akane to survive, she would need
a mother. I was there, and Hiroko looked a lot like me, so... I
volunteered to take her place as Akane's mother and let Akane develop
as a part of me for the next eight or so months."
Akane's eyes were threatening to widen well past their limits.
<She can't mean...>
"Why would our Mom look like you?" Nabiki wasn't sure if she
liked the sudden appearance of what seemed to be vanity in Peorth's
description of her mother.
Peorth shrugged. "Huh? Oh, something called 'Vanity of the
Gods,' I think. Someone once figured a long time ago that it would
be a great idea if occasionally Mortals were blessed with the
physical appearance or other traits of one or more Goddesses. Maybe
to serve as a reminder of all of us, or to keep us humble or
something, I guess." A brief laugh escaped her lips, restrained as
it was. "You know, Belldandy, Hiroko's eldest daughter Kasumi
reminds me a lot of you."
"Really?" blinked Belldandy. "How so?"
Peorth stared at her in disbelief for a moment. "Um, I'll tell
you later." Sheesh, at least the Mortals had picked up on that one
right away...
"Wait - are you saying that..." Soun drew a breath and started
anew. "Are you saying that when Hiroko recovered from her accident,
that was you? My Hiroko... *died* from that accident?" He was one
step away from breaking into the worst flood of tears he'd shown in
years. To think that Hiroko could have passed away a little over
half a decade before they had all believed...
The dark-haired Goddess shrank in on herself again. "I'm
sorry." She let her gaze drop to the table before her. Considering
what she was about to tell them, it was an advisable precaution to
take. "...Once Akane was old enough, and it was evident she'd grow
into a strong young woman, it was decided that Hiroko's wish had been
fulfilled. I was instructed to move on."
"And our Mom had to die again." Nabiki's voice. Before she
could reply, Akane's voice intervened. Her infamous temper was
starting to show.
"You mean that whole time Mom - *you* - were dying of cancer,
that was all just an ACT!?"
"Please, Akane-chan - I had my orders! I certainly didn't want
to hurt you," Peorth cautiously brought her head back up.
For a second Akane faltered, seeing her mother's face and
hearing Tendo Hiroko's voice in Peorth. She briefly recalled a few
of the home movies Dad had filmed when she herself was too young to
remember. Picking a carnation for her mother only to trip, skinning
her knee... and crushing the flower underneath her. She remembered
her mother comforting her. Drying her tears and telling a younger
Akane that she wasn't disappointed; she would love her little Akane
no matter what...
<"I love you very very very much, Mommy!">
<"How much, Akane-chan?">
Young Akane threw her arms wide. <"This much!">
A laugh. <"Oh, Akane-chan...">
<"I love you, too.">
Well, whoever had played the part of her mother for the first
handful of years of her life had done an exceptionally wonderful job.
Akane's thoughts returned to anger. She had never been able to
know her true mother - merely some Goddess *pretending* to be her
mother! And not only that, Peorth had probably been playing with her
emotions the whole time!
<"I love you, too.">
Ha!
If she'd honestly, truly cared for any of them, why would she
fake her own death and leave them? Akane had cried herself to sleep
for who knew how long a time after the funeral... and now, all that
had been rendered a wasted effort.
"Yeah, right! But you went ahead and hurt me - *us* - anyway!
Some mother YOU are!" Akane spat, shocking the remaining four
Goddesses.
"Akane!"
She turned to look at her father. "Don't defend her, Dad! She
faked her own death and ran out on all of us! So what if she's a
Goddess? What she did was MORE than a little inconsiderate!"
Peorth exhaled. "I know I deserve that. If this is what you
want, Akane-chan... I'll... I'll respect your choice."
A sudden realization flashed through Skuld's mind. She wasn't
sure if she liked the possibilities... so far, she'd seen two wishes
turn out considerably different than what she would have normally
expected. Who was to say that this third wish wouldn't end up with
similar results? "Obaasama," she prodded. "When you were pretending
to be Mrs. Tendo, did you take the form of a Mortal, or did you just
disguise yourself?"
"I... just disguised myself. Why?"
"The other day, I saw Akane produce a hammer out of thin air, so
to speak," Skuld told her, matter-of-factly.
Her sisters started, but it was Ranmira who finally spoke. "I
thought only we could really do that?" Noticing the blank stares she
was receiving from the Tendos and Mr. Saotome, Ranmira figured she
should explain. "Each of us always has a debugging hammer--"
"A 'debugging' hammer?" interrupted Nabiki.
"It's a long story. As I was saying, each of us always has a
debugging hammer of our own which we can call for when we need it, if
necessary." With everyone's eyes watching her, Ranmira held a hand
out at arm's length away from the table and willed her debugging
hammer to appear within her reach.
The hammer blinked into existence with little fanfare.
Ranmira's hammer resembled the hammer Skuld kept strapped to her back
for immediate use, except the head and base were a plain red as
opposed to Skuld's magenta tones, and the jewels adorning the base of
Ranmira's hammer were sapphire, not amethyst.
She willed the hammer to leave her.
"That's what I thought. But Akane can do it, too," Skuld
replied.
Akane resumed her slight blush as the others shifted to look at
her.
"And when you said that you carried Akane for eight months...
I'm not sure, but it looks like Akane *might* possibly be a
demi-goddess!"
Soun immediately fainted, prompting Nabiki and Akane to run to
catch him before he landed... and a curious stare from Skuld.
"Oh, dear," said Belldandy.
Urd smirked. "You got that right."
"You mean... that because I..." Peorth blanched. At once, she
knew she was bound to be in a lot more trouble than she had
originally thought. "Idiot!" she berated herself. "You just HAD to
go and cut corners, didn't you? Now I'm *really* gonna be in for
it..."
Akane helped Nabiki rest their unconscious father upon a pillow
on the floor. "I... don't understand."
"If I'm right, not only do you have the genetic material of your
father and true mother within you, Akane-chan, but Peorth-obaasama's
as well! That means you might have inherited powers or abilities
from her, or have the potential to become a Goddess, yourself!"
Skuld's explanation only succeeded in setting Akane's mind to
swim. "I think I'd better sit down." She made her way to one of the
seats at the table and fell into it.
"Good idea. Don't go anywhere. I'm going to go get my
bio-scanning equipment so that we can find out what kind of genetic
reading you have!" Leaving Akane with an uneasy smile, Skuld leapt
into the koi pond and vanished.
Akane was no longer sure what to think. She had only today
learned that due to a wish made by his mother, Ranma had a
recently-reawakened Goddess with him, acting as part of his
conscience. She'd met five Goddesses, in fact... including one who
had substituted herself for Akane's mother for a time. And now,
there was a chance *she* might be a Goddess as well...
<What am I going to do?>
Without making a sound, she drew out her faithful old wooden
mallet and idly cradled it in her free hand, unaware that Ranmira was
watching her from the opposite end of the table.
The business end of the mallet was well-worn, the wood rounded
and turned back at the edges. Her mallet had seen an incredible
increase in use after Ranma's arrival. Okay, maybe Ranma hadn't
deserved all the poundings she'd given him with the mallet, but she
knew that her 'weapon' was always there when she needed to use it,
and when she became frustrated or angry the temptation to solve her
problems by mallet-force was hard to resist...
If she *was* a Goddess, surely they wouldn't want her to run
around malleting people in the face. No, wait... they probably
wouldn't want her to do that no matter *what* she turned out to be.
How could she be a Goddess? Surely she didn't meet any of the
qualifications. She had her own set of shortcomings like other
Mortals. Wouldn't her sisters make better Goddesses than her? Like
Kasumi, for example. Kasumi reminded her of Belldandy, Ranmira's
older sister. Nabiki may have been somewhat mercenary-minded, but
she could react better under pressure than Akane *and* was smarter,
in Akane's opinion.
Either of them would be better-suited to the role than her, she
told herself. What kind of Goddess would *she* be?
Would she follow in her 'mother' Peorth's footsteps?
<No!> Her fingers subconsciously tightened around the mallet's
handle. <I am NOT going to be like her, Goddess or not!>
She felt the presence of someone's hand resting on her shoulder.
<Ranmira-san,> Akane thought, the name feeling odd to her as she
gazed up into the young Goddess' face. She was looking into a
familiar face and seeing someone other than the person she would
expect there - although this wouldn't be the first time.
Even if Ranmira had been... 'sleeping,' would her presence
explain Ranma's apparently charmed life?
"Akane-chan," the red-haired Goddess spoke in a calming voice.
"I'm sure everything will turn out well."
"You're just saying that."
Before Ranmira could respond, Skuld emerged from the koi pond
lugging what bore a strong resemblance to a floor vacuum-cleaner with
a square monitor bolted to it. She wheeled the device toward Peorth
first, holding the head of the 'vacuum cleaner' a few inches from
her. "In order to get accurate results, I need to scan you first,
before Akane."
Peorth didn't object. "Right." Her statement lacked her usual
energy.
Within seconds Skuld had scanned Peorth's entire body and moved
on to her next patient. "Now, don't be afraid, Akane-chan," she
enthused while bringing the scanner into Akane's line of view. "I'm
just going to run a few scans..."
Skuld took her time in scanning Akane, as opposed to the
relative speed of Peorth's scan. Akane remained absolutely still the
entire time; this had suddenly become the most important test of her
life. After the scan was finished Skuld tapped a short sequence of
buttons below the monitor. "All we have to do is wait for the
results, and--"
She was interrupted by a loud chime from her scanning unit.
<What, is that thing a microwave, too?> smirked Nabiki.
Urd peered over her youngest sister's shoulder at the monitor.
"Well?"
Skuld read the whole of the readout before answering. "These
results say that eighty-four percent of her genetic material has been
influenced by Peorth-obaasama's! Akane, you definitely have the
potential to become a Goddess."
Both Akane and Nabiki were overwhelmed by the news. Mr. Saotome
was pretending to maintain his usual level of indifference - though
anyone who looked directly at him would be able to tell otherwise.
"But what... does this mean?" Nabiki inquired.
"That she has to start her training and evaluations right away!"
Akane's eyes widened. "What? Why?"
"Akane, at the very least, it wouldn't be right to allow a
person with your potential to roam freely without the knowledge of
how to control your powers," said Ranmira.
"I can understand that."
Akane shot a glare in her sister's direction. "What do you mean
by that, oneechan?"
"Think about it." Nabiki adopted a knowing feline smile that
made Keiichi wonder for a second if she had any relation to Urd.
"You've got probably the worst temper I've ever seen. And when you
get mad..."
Akane opened her mouth to argue, but nothing came out. She
rearranged herself in her chair so that she sat fully upright. Her
cheeks reddened.
"Not to mention that any powers you have could very well be
corrupted for use by the Darkness," Skuld thought to add. "We have
to have a guarantee that you won't use your powers for any such
purpose."
Nabiki felt the need to stand by her sister's side. "What if
she can't guarantee that?" This sounded suspiciously to her like an
'all-or-nothing'-type deal...
"Most likely, it will be decided that Akane has to be
genetically restructured to remove Peorth-obaasama's 'influence' from
her."
She'd been right. Nabiki glanced down at Akane. The girl did
resemble Peorth, somewhat... "That'll change her into a completely
different person!" The thought caused Akane to swallow hard.
Urd's face became solemn. "That's the worst-case scenario.
Believe me, it would be dangerous to everyone and everything if we
were to allow a rogue Goddess to run around unsupervised, and I doubt
you'd want to see your sister become a demon, right?" She wasn't
about to tell either of them of her experience with these
possibilities.
"You're right. I wouldn't."
<Oneechan...>
The telephone rang. "Allow me to get it," Ranmira shifted modes
almost immediately as she walked over to the phone and answered it.
"Moshi-moshi, Tendo residence......" She paused. "Yes, sir. I am.
Thank you."
Ranmira motioned for Peorth to come to the phone, nodding once.
"......But sir, I didn't know at the time," the apologetic
Peorth spoke at last to the person on the other end of the line.
"Yes... I'm aware of the problems this causes......... Yes, sir."
Sighing wearily, she handed the receiver back to Ranmira.
"I... have to go now." None of the Goddesses offered a word to
stop her. Peorth followed a straight line through the doors that led
out to the garden, acting as though she had just been condemned,
where a golden column of light lifted her into the heavens amidst a
gale force of swirling winds.
For some reason the scene made Akane think of Ranma's Hiryuu
Shoten Ha technique.
She noticed that Keiichi was watching the last traces of
Peorth's column vanish into the sky, not knowing that it reminded him
of the time when Belldandy was about to ascend to the heavens and
leave him forever. He silently thanked his luck that they'd been
able to turn that situation around - for he didn't know what he would
do if Belldandy were to be removed from his life. Would he be able
to go on?
Keiichi doubted he would take his own life. No, he might simply
exist for the rest of his years as a thin, pale shell, feeling
nothing but depression or regret. His true love was now his
motivation.
<Sometimes, I wouldn't mind being able to read minds,> Akane
thought as she heard him sigh.
"I understand. Thank you, sir." Ranmira set the phone's
receiver back on its base.
"Who was that? Your boss?"
Ranmira smiled. "Yes. That was Kami-sama."
"*Kami-sama*!?" both Nabiki and Akane blurted out in unison.
In response, the Goddesses nodded.
There were still a terrible lot of things in the Universe to be
surprised by, Nabiki decided. For example, that the most important
deity of all had just used the *telephone* - of all things - to
contact the Goddesses working for Him rather than any means she might
have thought Kami-sama to use. But then... she recalled Keiichi had
said something about Belldandy speaking to him over the phone before
she came to offer Keiichi his wish. Obviously, they used telephones
when necessary to avoid attracting attention to themselves.
From what she'd seen of Keiichi and the Goddesses, they could
attract a *lot* of attention. Not unlike a certain group of martial
artists she knew...
"Skuld, Akane?" Ranmira was saying. Blast, wasn't she supposed
to be paying attention? "They would like the three of us to report
to the Central Evaluation Center as soon as possible."
"M-me?" stammered Akane.
Nabiki propped herself against the table. "Don't worry, Sis.
Mr. Saotome, Kasumi and I'll make sure Dad's okay and take care of
everything here." She glared in Mr. Saotome's direction. "*Right*,
Mr. Saotome?"
Genma reluctantly agreed.
"But... but it's not just that I'm worried about!"
"You'll do fine, Sis. Now get going. You wouldn't want to keep
Kami-sama waiting, huh?"
The terrified look on Akane's face increased in intensity. "I'm
going to meet K-kami-sama?" she near-whispered. It took an
incredible amount of will to keep from fainting right then and there.
Kami-sama. Even if she didn't pass the Goddess tests or whatever
they were going to put her through, she would have to meet Kami-sama
eventually... wouldn't she?
"Oops," Nabiki blinked. "Maybe I shouldn't've said that. Oh,
well."
Akane continued to fret until Ranmira approached her. "You
really do have nothing to worry about, Akane-chan. Everything will
turn out well."
"Yeah, well, *you* don't have anything to worry about! My life
is changing before me! I might become a Goddess, and sooner or later
I'm going to have to m-meet Kami-sama--"
"Akane, you are a martial artist. Correct?"
She wondered why Ranmira would ask her that question. "What
does that have to do with anything?"
"Ranma would not be frightened, were he in your place."
Akane froze. "I'm NOT scared! I'll show you!" She strode out
into the yard.
"That was rather sneaky of you, oneesama," Skuld grinned. "You
had better be careful, though, or you'll turn out like Urd."
"I *heard* that," their eldest sister said, dryly.
Ranmira had to laugh. "Well, you three had better get going.
They don't like it at the Center if you keep them waiting," Urd
deadpanned.
Skuld wondered if perhaps there was a dual meaning to her
sister's words. She chose not to worry about it. "Okay, okay.
C'mon, let's go."
The two younger Goddesses joined Akane at the place where she
stood in the yard. "Are you ready to go, Akane-chan?" asked Ranmira.
"Yes."
Ranmira situated herself to Akane's right, Skuld the left-hand
side. "Now... I want you to hold on tight to us. Don't let go.
Okay?"
".........Okay."
As soon as the word passed her lips, another column of golden
light and swirling winds enveloped them. Akane barely felt any of
this except for the odd sensation that told her they were steadily
floating upward. <The eye of the storm...>
She fought hard against the impulse to cast a glance down at the
ground to see how far above it she happened to be. Akane knew that
the Goddesses would not let her fall, but leaving the ground to float
an unimaginable distance into the sky was a good way to inspire
someone to reconsider their fear of heights.
From her yard far below, Nabiki watched her sister disappear
into the heavens. <I hope you make a better Goddess than our 'other'
mother.>
A low groan came from somewhere within the yard. "Huh?" Nabiki
impulsively glanced toward the hole Ranmira had blasted in the
property wall. She noticed a dark shape lying on the ground there...
"He's still here!?"
Belldandy was the first to react to Nabiki's outburst. "What's
the matter, Nabiki-san?"
"It's Kunou," she answered. "He got zapped when Ranmira knocked
the sword out of his hands. I thought he'd have recovered and left
by now, but he's been here all this time."
"Oh, dear," Belldandy said as they caught sight of the
slightly-charred Kendo swordsman.
Nabiki shrugged. "Oh, he'll be all right. All the fighters
around here get hurt like this all the time, and all of them heal
really fast. I guess Kunou-chan heals about as fast as it takes him
to get the point."
"Now, Nabiki-san, that wasn't nice," Belldandy admonished her.
She closed her eyes, repeating the words to a familiar spell.
Nabiki felt her jaw drop; the damage to both the wall and Kunou
rapidly undid itself before her eyes. <Wow. If I could do that, we
wouldn't have to pay so blasted much on landscape repair bills.>
Kunou sat up and warily rubbed his temples. When had it become
night? "Tendo Nabiki," he addressed the more familiar of the two
faces standing above him. The other was an attractive, yet older
woman somewhere in her twenties, he guessed. One of Nabiki's
relatives? "What fate has befallen me?"
Nabiki shook her head. "Oh, Kunou-chan... don't you know not to
mess with ancient, magical weapons?"
"Truly, you are never amusing."
"I sure hope so. You know, you've missed out on quite a lot."
Kunou responded with a dull stare. Good - he was back to normal
already - whatever that was.
How would he react when he learned that the two young women he
considered to be Goddesses essentially *were* Goddesses?

(...to be continued...)

------------

Author's notes: I'd like to go ahead and apologize now for any
out-of-character behavior in this series. ^_^ Also, for anyone
who's wondering, Instruments of Change takes place somewhere before
volume 22 of the original manga, in which Nodoka was introduced.

Credits:

Written by: Mike Koos
Prereaders: Richard Beaubien, Kevin D. Hammel, Jonathan Ng,
Shadowmane, Tom Williams, David Wills

With apologies to Takahashi Rumiko and Fujishima Kosuke...

Also, special thanks to Christopher Angel, Louis-Philippe Giroux and
Ed Little for all the help they've provided, as well as the readers
of this series.

All parts of this series are available at the RAAC archives at
ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works
or from my WWW pages at
http://www.anime.usacomputers.net/~makoto/index.htm
Comments and questions welcome.

Note: As I'm posting this, we're temporarily having a few problems
with the server, so my page may not be available.

*****************************
* Mike ('Kino Makoto') Koos * "I can do nothing to stop you.
*---------------------------* Your background music is too
* email: mak...@mother.com * strong for me."
***************************** - Whose Line is it Anyway?
www: http://www.anime.usacomputers.net/~makoto/index.htm

0 new messages